This relates to the treatment for disposal or recycle of water produced from oil and gas wells either after tracking operations or during normal production of water from the formation.
Salt water is produced from oil and gas wells either as a result of water injection into the formation during tracking operations or as a result of the natural water content of the formation. As oil or gas is produced, this water accompanies these products to the surface and must be separated and disposed of. Common methods of disposal are the collection and reinjection into the same or other deep formation. Deep water injection is being linked to earthquakes, and alternative disposal methods are required.
Other methods of disposal utilize onsite treatment for salt removal by evaporation or filtration to reduce volume and concentrated water injected or hauled to a disposal or retention facility. These methods are energy intensive and do not address the waste product disposal issue. Some tracking water has been trucked to regional commercial treatment facilities that dilute the sail water and discharge it into surface water bodies. This has led to fresh water contamination in some areas of the country.
A solution is required that reduces the quantities of water being injected and keeps the cost of a disposal to a minimum and docs not create an additional waste disposal problem in some other area. As crude oil prices drop, some wells will need to stop production if cost effective solutions are not available.
Some wells produce natural gas that must be flared because there is not an infrastructure in place to get the gas to market. These wells are the most likely candidates for a technology that reduces the volume of water using wellhead gas as an energy source.